What to Eat in Istria, Croatia? 8 Traditional Must-Try Dishes

Before travelling abroad I like to fully prepare myself; I always make a schedule and have a plan where to go, what to see, how to get around and so on… but the most important thing I never miss is to check what and where to eat. So today I’ll give you eight traditional Istrian dishes you must try if you visit my country.

Manestra – an interesting stew made with meat, spring corn, beans and other vegetables. It’s an old traditional dish my granny use to make so perfectly. I recommend you to try it in tavern “Tomaško” in Vranja.

Fuzi – typical homemade pasta we usually eat with beef or chicken sauce. Pasta is very common dish in Istria, probably because we are close to Italy so we took over some recipes.

Octopus Peka – slowly baked octopus with potatoes in a fireplace under a cast iron bell covered with hot ashes. A must try! People here often make octopus and potatoes salad which is also a good choice for your dinner.

Grilled Fish – Fresh white or blue fish is very common summer weekend lunch in Istria. It’s healthy and delicious so you don’t have any excuses not to try it, except maybe the price… but of course it depends where you eat it.

Buzara – one of my favorites! It can be made with seashells or shrimps, red or white sauce. In my house together with garlic, parsley and white wine we always put a little bit of tomato to make it more colourful.

Prosciutto and Cheese – classic Istrian plata contains domestic prosciutto, dried sausages and a few types of cow and sheep cheese you can enrich with a few drops of olive oil.

Truffles – black underground gold people usually love or hate. The smell is very strong but don’t let it discourages you. You can try them in salami, cheese, truffle cream or pasta sauce.

Three most typical Istrian deserts are apple strudel, krostule and fritule. Krostule are traditional fried pastry and fritule are highly addictive mini doughnuts with raisins we always make for Christmas.

Some of the places, restaurants and taverns you can visit if you want to try domestic food for good price are “Daniela” near Poreč, “Velo Kafe” in old city Labin, “Ružmarin” in Opatija, “Batelina” near Pula or “Vela vrata” in Beram.

And if you can spend a little more than you should check “Boccaporta” near Pula, “Monte” in Rovinj or “Zigante” in Livade.

I recommend you to drink good Istrian wines like Kabola, Kozlovic, Degrassi, Arman, Coronica, Matosevic… If you have time go wine-tasting, there are many wineries and vineyards all around Istria.